Gary Webster: Iyar - What you believe matters! [2025/5785]
Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Gary Webster.
Greetings from the one truly eternal city, Jerusalem.
Tonight starts the month of Iyar. Nissan is a distance memory. The Passover celebrations are over. We look forward to Shavuot. Historically, the fifty days between Passover and Shavuot are filled with important happenings. Thirty three hundred years ago, the Israelites left Egypt, crossed the Red Sea and experienced Hashem’s provision of water and manna before arriving at Mount Sinai. Two thousand years ago, Yeshua(Jesus) rose from the dead, and spent forty days interacting with his disciples.
None of us were there in Egypt with the Israelites nor with the disciples during Yeshua’s time on the Earth. We accept the accounts of these historical events from the testimony of the eye witnesses who were there. We accept the account of non-biblical events on the same basis, truthful eye witnesses.
I titled tonight’s talk, “What you believe matters.” Why? What you believe will motivate you to action or inaction. We may not agree on economics, politics or sports but as disciples of Yeshua we must agree on the following. Yeshua died for our sins, was buried and rose on the third day. According to Paul the Apostle, the resurrection of Yeshua is the cornerstone of our faith. A note here. Everyone before Yeshua, who was revived, even Lazarus, ultimately died. The raising of Yeshua from the dead was unique in the annals of history but not singular. He rose to die no more. All who believe in Him will also live forever.
“ Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” I Corinthians 15: 12-19
If there is no life after death then why live a moral life? Why not grab for all the gusto you can? Paul convincingly declares,
“Yeshua rose from the dead!”
How do we know?
The testimonies of men and women who were willing to die for what they saw and heard.
Miriam of Magdala saw and touched the risen Yeshua.
Peter states,
“For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16)
John the Apostle wrote,
”That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life…” (1 John 1:1)
Luke wrote the following,
”The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1: 1-3)
For forty days, Yeshua made himself known to his disciples. He ate with them( cf. Luke 24:41-43). He made them breakfast.(cf. John 21:12-14)
Paul offers other testimony.
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James….” (Yeshua’s half-brother) 1 Corinthians 15:3-7
Many of these witnesses became martyrs. The resurrection of Yeshua has made it possible for me to live the overcoming life. His Holy Spirit lives in me. Galatians 2:20 declares,
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
The risen Christ(Messiah) lives out His life in me. Is He living out His life in You?
I wish to close with this benediction from Hebrews 13.
“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Rosh Chodesh Sameach!
Gary Webster: Iyar - A Sacred Promise [2024/5784]
Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Gary Webster.
Shalom from Jerusalem! I trust your Easter or Passover celebrations were good. We thank God for answered prayer. Things were very quiet during the Passover time here in Israel. Tonight begins the month of Iyar. 3500 years ago, the Israelites celebrated the deliverance from slavery in Egypt. During this month, they were on their way to Mount Sinai. 2000 years ago, Yeshua Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead to give Jew and Gentile freedom from death and sin. Many of us have accepted Yeshua's offer of forgiveness of sins and life eternal. However, our daily lives feel like we are still in bondage instead of being free. Maybe you're like the person Paul wrote about in Romans 7:14-24:
"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. If then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good, I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man; but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
Some sin or habit has you in its grasp. Maybe it's alcohol, marijuana, cocaine. Maybe it's pornography, greed, anger, or pride. You give in to the temptation and feel awful afterwards. You promise yourself that this will be the last time, but the vicious cycle repeats itself. You want to break free of the shackles; you wish to soar. ou're like this brick; you're stuck. It would take a miracle to get it off the table. Not really! Every day, thousands of bricks are flying over our heads. They're called planes. What enables these 60-ton metal bricks to overcome the force of gravity? Two other forces: lift and thrust. The wings of the plane provide the lift, and the engines give it thrust. What enables the disciple of Christ to overcome sin in his or her life? It's the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Galatians 5:13-26 declares:
"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: love your neighbor as yourself. If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred and discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."
Romans 8:9-13 echoes a similar sentiment:
"You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, even though the body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live."
How does this victory become a reality? Colossians 15:57 says,
"Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
When you're tempted to sin, cry out to Yeshua; ask him to give you the victory. Also, take steps to minimize the temptation. For example, if alcohol is your downfall, don't go near any bars; have the alcohol in the hotel room removed. If pornography is your nemesis, put filters on your computer and smartphone; be accountable to someone you trust. Let them him or her set the password for access to websites, and avoid being alone. You no longer have to succumb to temptation. Victory can be yours! May this month be the beginning of true freedom for you and for me. Rosh chodesh samach